Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 105398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 527(@200wpm)___ 422(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Rolling herself onto her back, she threw her arm over her eyes and muttered, “I’m a dumbass.”
“You’re not a dumbass. I can see where you got that I wanted you to leave, but how could you think I’d just want you to leave like that?”
She didn’t answer, but she didn’t need to. She thought she would lose me eventually, and always in the back of her mind, she was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“You’re not getting away from me. You’re mine now. Forever. In fact, I have a few calls to make. Be back in a few.”
She still had her arm over her eyes, and using her left hand she gave me thumbs up as I left the room.
I dialed Max and let it ring.
“I need a few favors.” I said when he answered.
I went on to explain what I wanted, and he said he would have it done by Thursday. Which meant we had two and a half days here by ourselves before I had to get her home for our surprise.
The next few hours we spent exploring the property.
“This is where I got stuck. When we first moved here this was all flooded. The swamp from the next land over flooded and it extended to the back of our property. I was riding through here one day by myself on the 4-wheeler when I got high centered on a rut. I had no clue why I’d gotten stuck, and I needed help. I had to walk back to the cabin from here, and about half of it was in calf high swamp.”
“What’d your dad have to say?” I asked while glancing over the area, trying to pretend that I wasn’t terrified for the little twelve year old that was in the middle of a fucking swamp.
“He was pissed at first. He told us never to go back there without one of them. That I was lucky an alligator didn’t eat me. When he saw the 4-wheeler, he knew immediately that I was high centered. We spent nearly two hours getting it unstuck, and by the time we got back we were both covered from head to toe in mud. It’s one of my greatest memories.”
We continued to walk, and finally circled back around to the cabin where we went into the AC to cool down.
“This is the room that reminds me of him the most. I remember him cooking us bacon and eggs. He would cook the eggs in the bacon grease, and it would taste amazing. No one else cooks eggs like that, and I have yet to find a restaurant that does it either. He also used to make some breakfast sandwiches that were similar to Egg McMuffins. The only difference was that he made them with over easy eggs, so as soon as you took a bite, you’d have the yolk everywhere.” She smiled.
I watched the expressions flit over her face and asked, “You don’t talk about them much. Where was your mom?”
“She didn’t come over until later in the afternoons, and then would drive home later that night. She wasn’t into ruffing it, but when she was here, she had a camera in her hand and a smile on her face.”
“I’d love to see the pictures sometime. So Max has fixed the place up since you were last here?”
She glanced around before saying, “Yeah. He’s done a lot. I haven’t been here since my parents died. It was always too difficult to think about coming here when I knew they wouldn’t be. Hence, why I’ve stayed away. Max obviously didn’t have the same problem. He put in indoor plumbing, and electric. The rest of the house still looks the same though.”
I loved the way she lit up when she spoke about her family. It seemed to me that she kept this part of herself hidden; if she spoke of it, she would feel the pain of losing them even more. So instead, she ignored it all together. Except here, she couldn’t, because everything she saw reminded her of them.
Her expression turned sad so I distracted her with food, as any good man would do.
“I’m getting pretty hungry, Em. What do you say we go get something to eat?
“That sounds pretty good, actually. I haven’t eaten since last night’s pizza.”
I glanced at my watch, noting it was two in the afternoon. It’d been over eighteen hours since she’d eaten, and I felt a sharp ache in my chest when I realized it was my fault.
“Em, you know you can’t do that anymore. You have to make sure you eat for the baby.” I admonished.
Her expression went from sad to desolate, and I curled her into my chest when I noted it.
“What is it?”
“What if he doesn’t make it?” She cried.
“Our boy is a fighter. If he’s anything like me, he’ll come out swinging. Try not to worry so much. There’s nothing we can do about it right now, and we need to make sure we keep our attitudes positive.” I said as I kissed her forehead.
Getting her emotions back under control she said, “The closest place is Mineola. It’s about a thirty minute drive.”
“Then that’s where we’ll go. By the way, do you want this back?” I asked holding out her ring.
I was rewarded with her sweet smile. She held out her hand and I slipped it back onto her finger. Lifting her hand, I gave it a kiss before I wrapped my arm around her neck and led her to the bike. Our hips bumped as we walked, and she giggled the entire time.
The drive was a scenic one, and I promised myself we would come out here more often. She enjoyed the ride, as well as the familiar landmarks that she hadn’t seen in so long.
We agreed that Mineola would be the place to go and spent the afternoon walking around downtown. We ate in a small restaurant called Armadillo Willie’s. It was definitely a redneck establishment. They were very proud of their tin cups and plates, as well as their eclectic menu.